National Quinoa Day is a day set aside to celebrate the fantastic superfood that is quinoa, and its growing popularity in the food industry. Quinoa has been cultivated for thousands of years by the Andean people. A magical seed that can be eaten as a grain, quinoa was cultivated on the high-altitude plains of the Andes — the Bolivian Altiplano.

The Incas and Aymara people (who preceded the Incas) were among the first to domesticate the quinoa plant along with other common crops like potatoes, papaliza, and so on. In an area where few crops could survive, quinoa grew easily. A particularly resilient plant, quinoa can survive drought, hail, high salinity, wind, and frost, which is a good thing in a place like the Andes with limited rainfall and high salinity levels. In fact, the majority of quinoa grown for export today is grown along the Southern Altiplano, near the salt flats.

While quinoa was ignored or looked down on for the longest time, once tractors were introduced to Bolivian agriculture, the gradual growth of quinoa cultivation began. This built up a quinoa boom once the Bolivian government started exporting it to the U.S. Gradually, the processing of quinoa improved, making it more profitable and widely accessible. As its health benefits were explored, it was discovered that quinoa was packed with a lot of necessary vitamins, protein, and fiber. As a result, it was touted as a superfood by nutritionists and health professionals, which increased its popularity all the more.